How to Make Your Own Bitters

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I very much enjoyed your instructions for classic manhattans (Man at His Best, February). In the future, might I suggest including some recipes for homemade bitters?—Jaime Vega, Bethesda, Md.

You're in luck: There is already a bitters recipe in this very issue. Earlier this month, Esquire drinks correspondent David Wondrich provided a very simple (if you consider finding wormwood simple) bitters recipe, best suited to the fairly obscure and delicious cocktail described in his drinking column. For a more utilitarian option, Wondrich suggests Stoughton's bitters, the recipe for which is detailed in his 2007 guide to American cocktails, Imbibe, and adapted here. Good luck foraging for the ingredients.—Editors